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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What are the "portières" that Miss Coulson is sitting near?
(a) Wall hangings.
(b) Window shutters.
(c) Curtains hung in the doorway.
(d) Hanging lamps.

2. How does the narrator suggest the reader should respond to the poet who praises the month of May?
(a) With more accurate scientific information.
(b) With a poem that condemns May.
(c) With a punch in the eye.
(d) With laughter.

3. What does Miss Coulson's believe about love?
(a) That it is humiliating.
(b) That it is a pretense.
(c) That it is overpowering.
(d) That it is inconvenient.

4. What does the narrator warn the reader to "never trust" (333)?
(a) May.
(b) Warm breezes.
(c) Hyacinths.
(d) Sparrows.

5. What is the "twist" at the end of this story?
(a) Mrs. Widdup turns out to be wealthy, herself.
(b) Mrs. Widdup's husband is still alive.
(c) Miss Coulson runs away with the iceman.
(d) Mr. Coulson never had any romantic intentions toward Mrs. Widdup at all.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the author of "The Marry Month of May"?

2. On the final morning of the story, what causes Mr. Coulson's mood to change?

3. When "May holds up a chiding finger," (332), what is May's intention?

4. What is the first indication that Mrs. Widdup does not listen carefully?

5. Mrs. Widdup is described as "comely" (333). What does this mean is true about her?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of the sound of the overturned chair after Mr. Coulson confesses his feelings to Mrs. Widdup?

2. What happens overnight that changes Mrs. Widdup and Mr. Coulson's fate?

3. How does O. Henry use dry humor to reveal the narrator's opinion about Mrs. Widdup in the narrative intrusion on page 333?

4. What is the rhetorical purpose of the allusions to Puck and Circe?

5. Explain the technique at work in the sentences "Sparrows wrangled happily everywhere outdoors. Never trust May" (333).

6. When Miss Coulson says that the supposedly chilly weather is "An instance...of winter lingering in the lap of spring," what double meaning does she have in mind? (335).

7. When Mr. Coulson complains that no one in the house cares if he lives or dies, how does Mrs. Widdup's reply set the events of the story in motion?

8. Explain the significance of the diction "foxy" to describe Mrs. Widdup (333).

9. When Mr. Coulson finally confesses his feelings to Mrs. Widdup, what drawback to himself does he acknowledge, and what advantage does he say balances this drawback out?

10. How does O. Henry characterize the month of May?

(see the answer keys)

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